Speaking with Kevin Smith (Clerks, Tusk) today at San Diego Comic Con, director David F. Sandberg (Lights Out, Creation) confirmed the rumors that he will be directing the Warner Bros DC movie Shazam!. The Hollywood Reporter also confirmed an earlier report that Shazam! will be the next DC Extended Universe film to begin shooting in 2018, leaving it primed for a likely release in 2019. The film was part of the initial lineup of films Warner Bros announced in 2014 and has been in the works at Warner Bros in one form or another since early 2000. This will be Sandberg’s first non-horror feature film.
Since the initial announcement in 2014 not much news as surfaced concerning the film, although at one point, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson did confirm that he would be playing Black Adam, the main villain in the film. Whether or not Black Adam will appear in this iteration of Shazam! remains unclear, and no other actors have been announced for the film, although Armie Hammer is a potential frontrunner for the title role.
Created in 1939, Shazam, previously known as Captain Marvel, is the alter ego of 10-year-old Billy Batson, who with a word (“SHAZAM!”) transforms into a fully grown version of himself able to throw lighting, fly, and generally be a magical Superman. His supporting cast included his sister, Mary Batson (aka Mary Marvel), his friend, Freddie Freeman (Captain Marvel Jr), his Uncle Dudley, and his talking anthropomorphized tiger, Tawky Tawny. All of the Marvels were granted powers by the wizard, coincidentally named Shazam, and each had a set of powers that used that word as an anagram. Cap himself had the Wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles, and the speed of Mercury.
It was that similarity to Superman – and the fact that the Marvel Family books were, at times, outselling Superman titles – that eventually led to a lawsuit from DC Comics to Captain Marvel’s original publisher, Fawcett Comics, claiming that the character was derivative of the Man of Steel. Due in part to this, from 1953 to 1972, the character did not appear in comics, until DC purchased the rights from Fawcett and introduced him into DC continuity.
This will not be the first live action appearance of the character; there was a live action serial in 1941 titled The Adventures of Captain Marvel, as well as the 1974-77 Shazam! show on CBS. He has appeared in various animated series as well, and a few DC Animated features.
Although the character has not had an ongoing series since “Billy Batson and the Magic of SHAZAM” wrapped up in 2010, there was a Shazam back up by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank in the New 52 “Justice League,” and he most recently appeared as part of the pre-‘Rebirth’ “Justice League” team. The film announcement shows a clear confidence in the characters longevity and popularity.
